The reason for reading
Hello fellow readers,
I have just finished Jodi Picoult's new book.
Yes, I bought it on Friday.
Yes, it is Tuesday.
I read for the enjoyment and not really for knowledge.
Jody Picoult has books that speak to me.
I have not read a single book of hers that has not spoken to me or taught me something...
There is a long waiting period between her books, that I have to admit is pretty troubling but it makes the story so much more enjoyable...
I have walked into bookstores and for some strange reason looked down and found the new one by chance, anxiously awaiting the deliverer date because it always differed to the notices put up on her site because I am situated in South Africa and not the US.
Of the books I have read, the following have stayed with me:
(unfortunately this article will contain spoilers, if you have not read the books before - proceed with caution)
The Pact, was the very fist Jodi Picoult book that I read. I was 15 and had never read any novels that even contained a hint of adult content. I was young but was exposed to the good and the bad a teen relationship.
The book, if summarised from my point of view was about two teenagers who grew up together, side by side a neighbours (almost a Romeo and Juliet theme) destined to be together. Fate would have it, hormones and jealousy came to town. Boys being boys and girls being stubborn, they parted ways and ended up heartbroken and sad. Their only solace was a merry go round in an abandoned theme park. The teens decided to form a pact - a suicide pact. The catch you ask? Only one died. The other? accused of murder. The story is so well written no one could foresee the turn of events leading to the end of the story.
(here comes the spoiler) the novel ends with the boy being acquitted because of evidence leading up to the death and stating that the girl had been the one to kill herself.
I remember being stunned in disbelief. They had been my ideal couple. Not the killing part but the couple part, remember that I was still in school and looking for love myself. I still dreamed of fairytales and magic, that was what I took fro the first novel. Not even love is perfect at that age...
The next Picoult book had been My sister's keeper.
This had been made into a major movie. Many of you have probably seen it. Here's the catch... In the book, it ends differently and I don't know about you but if I were Jodi Picoult I would have been extremely angry at that outcome.
In the movie, the sick sister dies. In the book the younger daughter is emancipated and left with the choice to do with her organs as she sees fit. It had been a rainy day when the verdict was read and wanting to share the news with her sister (as she has decided to give her sister the new kidney anyhow, but because she chose to and not because she was told to) she left the courthouse with her lawyer during a the rainstorm, the little girl ended up with the new kidney only to be the only daughter their parents had left as well, you see the car ended up being wrapped around a lamp post and being a viable match the sister still received the organ, just like her younger sister had intended her to.
I had cried my eyes out while I was reading this novel. I never knew it to be possible but I assure you that it is.
Read the book and you will understand why no movie ever does a book justice, but that something for another article...
The third novel that made an impact on me was Lone Wolf.
A story about a father so interested in the lives of wolves, he left his own family to live in the wilderness like wolf. I must confess that this was the reason I became interested in wolves. The book contained many interesting facts and ideas one would not think of while being caught in a house filled with people that you loved and a warm cup of tea before bed. The book sparked in interest in me because it was based on real events.
Jodi Picoult never lets her readers down and always make sure she leaves them with a "Noooo, What the heck?"- moment. I think this may be one of the reasons I enjoy her book so much. The catch 22, in this novel was that the daughter, who had become very uneasy and struggled dearly with the condition her father was in, had been the cause of his suffering because she had been the reason he had driven in the snow. Alright, It had been the fatherly thing to do, go get his little girl. The dear running into the road and causing the car to swerve had not been her fault? The idea of trying to get him out of the car before it had caught fire? Maybe the fact that she dropped him on his head while trying to get him out? Possibly. You see, Jodi Picoult could have chosen many ways to end the book , but she chose an accident that could happen so easily, making her novel relatable to many daughters. We may sometimes be our fathers' downfall, not on purpose of course but we may be. This book had happened at just the right time.
Upon finishing school I had started reading her novel, The Storyteller.
Just to clear something up, The books are not in order and before finishing school I had read all the available works written by Jodi Picoult including Mercy and Nineteen minutes. Believe me when I say I count the days the the next book as eagerly as one of my Yorkshire terriers waiting for a piece of cheese.
While reading The Storyteller, I realised the history I had missed while abroad. The book is about an old man, meeting up with a young girl with a scar of her face. This scar had not made her any less beautiful, It had scared her soul on the inside. The scar forced her to think she wasn't accepted during daylight and would bake bread while everyone slept.
One person who did in fact notice her, was an old man. As the story progresses the reader is taken to Germany during the second world war and concentration camps and the misery that they caused everyone.
The book hold immense knowledge on the topic and one can see that Jodi Picoult had indeed done her homework, again what caught my fancy was the way the story ended and the twist in the tale came to pass, I know that I said I would pass many spoilers but this was a book to read fully in order to understand and enjoy.
Please add it to your reading list, to me, it was worth it.
Before I start describing my last book, Jody Picoult had written a novel that had once again made me cry so that I had no other choice than to call my mother bear and thank her for everything that she had done for me.
I think because of Leaving Time, I started seeing my mother and viewing motherhood in a completely different way. My love and understanding of elephants had also evolved during the course of this book. The story was about a little girl whom had lost (or was left by) her mother. She went on her search and met some people on her way, not realising that by the end of her story the would become family. The novel follows the little girl on her quest to find her mother, knowing in her heart that her mother would never leave her by choice, something must have happened. As our story continues Alice's daughter befriends a psychic and a detective, whom helps her uncover clues and sets our to find Alice. By the end of the novel, the reader is stumped by yet another Jodi Picoult turn as the little girl ends up being a ghost (yes, the dead leading the psychic) and finding her mother after all. I think this one caught my fancy for the little things, the believes the African people have in the ways the great animal reacts to death, of the way names are pronounced. The one idea I did not see coming was the fact that the Psychic had candy floss coloured hair, being Afrikaans, that translates to spook asem, or "ghost breath". The way Jodi Picoult writes a novel is fascinating.... This novel had become my all time favourite!
The last book will definitely be a spoiler...
I am sorry to those other Jodi Picoult fans, whom had not yet had the chance to end to the end (get moving!)
Picoult's newest noel is about a group of women brought together by an unforeseen circumstance. Something that has been troubling the world for a while now, Gunman en shootings. They are all found in a women's fertility clinic. The did not know each other going in but coming out they will all have one thing in common. Survival...
The novel follows different women walking a path of growth (and some) of death. Jodi Picoult writes about topics many people choose to hush. The topic of abortion has not been touched but rather placed in a cupboard to high for any to reach. Many woman struggle with this day in and day out. Many have different reasons for doing it, others have believes which stops them. Others have situations to tiresome to think about. I have most definitely learnt a lot from this novel and it has been very enlightening.
I realise now that I have so much of myself to share because of the novels I have read, each placing a piece of themselves in my life puzzle. Readers don't always admit it, but they live the lives of others to progress their own.
Jodi Picoult has surely made an impact in my life and even though her books take 2 years to write, (I don't blame her, for the research she has to do for each book is remarkable) I look forward to each one every time!
When you can write a book that speaks to someone not always willing to hear, thats a masterpiece.